Mates
by Luna Myth 11
Summary: After something of a virtual reality experiment gone wrong, Stampy and Squid find themselves in a parallel dimension. Fortunately, they immediately run into someone who might be able to help them out. Stampy and Squid in the Lunar Chronicles universe. Both of the universes are in the future.
1. Chapter 1

**Kacy Myth on Tumblr prompted me something I couldn't resist. I don't intend to actively continue this verse in the present, but it may happen at some point.**

"Oh wow!" Stampy exclaimed excitedly. "I've never gotten to meet real live aliens before!" He looked at them curiously. "You know, you guys don't really look so different from us humans."

The alien glared at him and then sighed condescendingly. "Where have you been your whole life? Of course we look human! We _are_ from an evolved colony of yours. But our biology and, more importantly, our powers are very different from yours."

"What powers?" Squid interjected. "We only just got here a different dimension." He was just as curious as Stampy about these beings, who had identified themselves as Lunars, but still looked like humans. The one who was speaking with them looked like a girl around their age, but even though she seemed to be speaking perfect English, she looked Asian. Maybe this dimension had a standardized language.

The Lunar girl rolled her eyes. "Sure you did." She paused. "You guys really don't know about the Lunar gift, though?"

Stampy and Squid exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.

"Check this out then." The girl held up her hand and they peered at it intently. As they watched it, her skin tone changed color, darkening to a deep black, lightening back up to an olive color before paling further to a ghostly white.

Stampy gasped. "Wow, how are you doing that?" He blinked and the girl's hand returned to normal.

The girl looked at him in annoyance. "It's the Lunar gift, didn't I just say? Lunars can manipulate bioelectricity. My hand didn't actually change; I just made you think it did. We can do a bunch of other things with it, too." She said proudly. "It's called glamouring."

Even Squid looked impressed. "Nice dimension you guys have here. You're way ahead of us."

Someone coughed into their hand from behind the girl. It was one of the Lunars who was guarding what Stampy assumed was the girl's spaceship. When the ship had landed next to him and Squid shortly after their arrival in this dimension and a hatch has opened from the ship's side, the Lunar girl had run outside to question them, shortly followed by two guards who were now standing on either side of the hatch. They were both armed with some kind of short metal stick, which Stampy imagined could be used to do a lot more than just beat them around the face. Maybe it could shoot lasers, Stampy mused. He hoped he wouldn't find out.

"Princess Cosmos," the guard began respectfully. "Shouldn't you inquire if these strangers have the means to go home? With all due respect, strangers from the Outer Regions without I.D. chips are a risk to planetary security."

The strange Lunar girl, whose name was apparently Cosmos, seemed to have warmed to them now and cheerfully asked them what their plan was.

"Uh…" Squid said uncertainly. "We sort of got here by accident, to be honest. We'd volunteered for a beta test for a new VRMMORPG. And ended up here. Do you know a way back?"

Cosmos looked thoughtful. "I'm sure we can think of something…"

The guard who has spoken before looked nervous and leaned forward to whisper another suggestion. Cosmos brightened.

"Here, why don't you guys come back with us while we get our researchers on this?" Cosmos said invitingly. "You should introduce yourselves first, though." She added absently.

Sounded fun to Stampy. Cosmos was a princess, right? So they might be to see an alien castle before they returned home. "Sure!" Stampy said cheerfully. "I go by Stampy and this," he pointed to Squid. "is my mate, Squid." He laughed. "This, this guy right here." He tapped Squid's chest playfully as he spoke.

Squid rolled his eyes and looked indignant, but Stampy could tell he was amused.

"Your mate, huh?" Cosmos said mischievously before waving a hand towards the entrance to the ship. "Follow me. We'll see what we can do."

The flight to Cosmos' place would have been surprisingly comfortable if not for the glares Stampy kept receiving from the guards, he reckoned. The ship had nice seats and the trip was so smooth that only the hum of the engine alerted Stampy to the fact they were in flight. Squid had pulled out his phone and was taking pictures, pointedly ignoring the guard's glares.

They arrived at Cosmos' palace long before Stampy had gotten tired of the view from his window seat. He really was on the moon, or Luna as this dimension called it, and they were flying over futuristic cities. The last few minutes of the trip had been the best. The city they were flying over, the one that held Cosmos' palace, was the biggest and most advanced city he'd seen, all steel and glass and impressive architecture.

The ship docked at a private landing zone and the guards stiffly opened the hatch. Cosmos started to rush out again, but the guard who had spoken earlier beat her outside and scanned the area for threats before allowing her to exit the ship. Cosmos pouted sarcastically at them.

"Come on out, you guys." Cosmos called to Stampy and Squid, who had been slow to leave their seats.

"Coming!" Stampy replied, hurriedly standing up.

Cosmos assigned one of the guards, the one who had yet to speak, to take them to a suite of some kind that they could stay in for a while until the researchers found anything.

"Thanks for your help." Squid told Cosmos as the guard started to lead them away.

"It was nothing." She replied casually. "You guys looked like you could use the help."

The room they'd been given was nice, far nicer than Stampy knew he could appreciate. Maybe someone who had been raised wealthy would be able to recognize all the materials and how expensive the room really was, but all Stampy could tell was that he doubted he would ever stay somewhere as extravagant as this again.

There was one thing that was odd though. The guard had left as soon as he and Squid had been shown their way around the suite, which had a bathroom and kitchen as well as the sleeping chamber, but he hadn't shown them either of them to a separate room.

"Hey, Stampy?" Squid said, interrupting Stampy's thoughts.

"Uh, yes-um?" Stampy replied, his head whipping around to look at Squid.

"Is it just me or did they only give us one bedroom?"

Stampy shook his head. "Uh, no. It's not just you. But to be fair," Stampy waved an arm around the room. "It's a very nice one bedroom."


	2. Chapter 2

**Another prompt from Kacy Myth, which I had decided worked with this verse. Based on a line from You Are In Love by Taylor Swift.**

Stampy felt shifting beside him, the rustling of sheets and blankets slowly pulling him from his dreamworld. The world around him was soft; as if everything was slow and quiet, peaceful to the point of great contentment. The room was dimly lit and there was no sound to be heard apart from his own breathing and the continued stirring of Squid beside him.

Curiosity tugged at Stampy's mind gently and he obeyed and rolled over to look at Squid, the lone desire easily beating out his desire for sleep.

With his world still sleepy and his mind absurdly blank, Stampy watched Squid's face as consciousness returned. The thick blanket they'd found on the bed was wrapped tightly around Squid's torso, leaving Stampy only the edge, and he had mashed the side of his face into the pillows, facing Stampy's side of the bed.

Squid's eyes blinked open and they focused on Stampy's watchful expression. The bed creaked slightly as Squid lifted his head and propped himself up with his elbow. He breathed in and paused for a moment, his own expression strange, rather tired, confused and pensive.

"You're my best friend."

Stampy tilted his head at him, breathing long and deep, as if he were still asleep. "Yeah." A half chuckle of confusion interrupted his own attempts at speech. "You're mine, too."

Squid smiled sleepily and murmured as he rolled over to go back to sleep, "I'm glad."

A few minutes later, sleep descended on Stampy again and the room fell silent except for quiet breathing.


End file.
